I've had all three recipes for this week's Cooking From The Farmers' Market planned out for a week. As I said in my post yesterday, picking just a few of them was a tall task. I'd even gone so far as to photograph and beginning writing out the post for today's recipe choice…and then I went and confused myself. Flipping through the cookbook yesterday, I saw this and realized I had everything to make it for lunch – a bit of prosciutto left from one recipe, most of a fennel bulb from something I'm posting next week. It ended up being a great way to use up ingredients I had around the house…except for flat leaf parsley, which was missing. This "salad" is so delicious that I changed up my plans and am posting about it instead. So, please excuse that this is a bit of a "hail mary" blog post – do include the parsley when you make this because I'm sure it can only enhance an already amazing dish.

To me, this recipe is as much an "antipasto" as it is a salad. The combination of textures in this is so wonderful, my taste buds totally ignored the fact that it included celery, which I am finally learning to enjoy. Adding the mint and the lemon just accentuates the freshness here – I threw on some fennel fronds for another layer of texture and color and substituted the spring onions for chives. I can't wait to make this on a big platter (or one of those dark slate serving boards – that would be stunning!) for a summertime party with some crusty bread to make this a light, no-cook meal.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the final of three recipes I'm sharing this week from Williams-Sonoma's Cooking From The Farmers' Market, which you can buy here.

– Put the celery, fennel, green onions, parsley, and mint in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil and the 2 tablespoons lemon juice and toss gently. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired. Place the prosciutto on a platter and top with the fennel mixture. Garnish with the shaved cheese and serve at once.

Kathryn Aug 5, 2010 12:08 am

Kathryn-
Celery has been in my CSA box continuously throughout the summer. The herbs are something I grow myself. Fennel is still beautiful and delicious when I’ve gotten it at YDFM. There’ve been lots of recipes on the blog as of late using stuff I’ve been getting at the Saturday AM farmers market in Decatur. I can only cook so many things with tomatoes and zucchini! :) Thanks, though, for the observation and for stopping by the blog.
– t*